


Opening Night, Closing Night

by emmaliza



Category: One Direction (Band), Take That (Band)
Genre: Age Difference, Drinking, Fame, Flirting, Implied/Referenced Weight Shaming, Light Angst, M/M, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-02-28 11:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18755242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmaliza/pseuds/emmaliza
Summary: From one star of a British boy band, to another.





	Opening Night, Closing Night

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this photo](https://66.media.tumblr.com/85bd3a171c84996b69ef2beb59bd011c/tumblr_mxvthnzZ051rnntmfo1_500.jpg) more than anything. Don't ask too many questions.

Gary does know him.

Just about everyone knows everyone in this business, but they met on the _X Factor_ , and besides, they have mutual friends - James and Ben, all that. He's gotten well acquainted with the lad who's stolen Mark's 'most fanciable male' title (does _Smash Hits_ still give that out? Does _Smash Hits_ still exist?), likes him. He likes him a lot, if he's honest.

It still comes as a surprise when, at some do or another, Harry Styles comes to his and Howard's corner, gets talking to them, drinking with them, and, when he's disappeared to take a piss, Howard needles into his side. "He fancies you, you know."

"What?!" Howard laughs at the level of shock he displays there, because apparently it was so obvious to him.

"C'mon, Gaz. I know you always thought nobody wanted to shag you, they were all too busy staring at my abs, but it wasn't true then and it sure isn't now, you sex symbol you." Gary just rolls his eyes at that, not yet fully processing what Howard's on about. "But yeah. The lad wants you. And who can blame him? You've got that whole smart dressed older fella thing going for ya."

"You can talk," says Gary. "We're all old enough to be his dad. You sure you didn't sire him on some groupie in '93?"

Howard kicks him childishly for that, and then Harry comes back, cutting their conversation off halfway through. Then Howard decides it's a great time to go take a piss himself, much to Gary's irritation. Honestly, sometimes he doesn't know why they're even friends, let alone best friends for over twenty years.

"So," Gary says, suddenly much more awkward than he ought to be, "fame still treating you alright?"

"Yeah," Harry answers in that deep, thoughtful voice of his that seems to make everything he says seem so much more important than it really is. "It's... strange."

_Well that could mean anything,_  but Gary finds he doesn't want to pry.

He does notice a few things after Howard's gone; a head tilt here, a sly remark there, the odd squeeze of his shoulder. He knows Harry is the flirty type, so maybe it doesn't matter, but...

It's just, if Howard is right, it's not as if the attraction is entirely one way. He sees the appeal. He likes curls like Howard's and clothes like Mark's, a little touch of Robbie's rockstar swagger and that smooth, assuring manner, like Jay. You have to hand it to Simon Cowell, he knows a good boy band member when he sees one ( _fire the fat one and I'll sign them_ , he thinks, and that's a jibe he should have forgotten long ago).

But still, as Harry flirts with him and he, somewhat unwittingly, starts flirting back, he feels a bit uncomfortable. He was only partly kidding before; he is old enough to be Harry's dad. He was famous before this kid was even born. If One Direction are worth their salt, they probably won't like this cradle robber getting handsy with the baby of their band.

Howard comes back, but it only does so much to help. As more drinks get poured into them Gary ends up with Harry wound around his shoulders, and he giggles at everything the boy whispers in his ear. Someone takes a photo, something for the fans - there's overlap, probably - and Gary grins, but he feels like he's been caught in the act.

Eventually the party winds down, everyone starts heading home, and Harry is still there. Management is sending out a driver to collect him, but he thinks he can blow them off a little longer. He gives Gary a meaningful look, and Gary thinks he understands what's going on here.

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't tempted. But there are a lot of reasons he shouldn't.

Apart from all the practical and ethical reasons (the tabloids would love this one, which is probably reason enough that he should never do it), there's just something about the vibe of it. He wonders whether Howard was right at all - if it's him Harry fancies, or his fame.

Harry looks like Howard and dresses like Mark, walks like Rob and talks like Jay, but Gary sees something of himself in him too. That same steely determination. That's not necessarily a bad thing in this business, you need that to survive, but it can be dangerous. He knows Harry's the one they've already dubbed the future solo star, and he knows what that expectation can do to a person ( _and everyone else around them_ , adds Rob's voice). He wouldn't recommend it.

And he definitely remembers being awed by older men because they seemed so much closer to what he dreamed of than he was. That didn't end well for anybody.

"I gotta head home. You know, to the kids," he answers, secure in his middle aged domesticity. Harry takes a step back, a little sheepish.

"Ah. Right."

Gary smiles fondly at the lad's embarrassment, and opts to say goodbye with a kiss on the cheek - a totally chaste one. "Look after yourself, son," he says, patting his back firmly. "And enjoy it. All this, enjoy it. You never know how long it'll last."

From the look in his eye when they pull apart, he's not sure Harry understands. But Gary knows he will.

 


End file.
